Apple files patent for Low Power Bluetooth Hotspots that would be ideal for iWatch

In a patent filing uncovered today, Apple has detailed a Bluetooth LE based hotspot where a device can share its internet connectivity with other devices without consuming a lot of power. The low-power nature of this connection makes it an ideal candidate for use with the much-rumored iWatch.

Since an iWatch is unlikely to have cellular capabilities to access the internet due to battery life concerns, it is expected to rely on a second device, like an iPhone, for internet connectivity. Bluetooth 4’s Low Energy mode would enable such connectivity without consuming a significant amount of battery.

Moreover, the pairing between the two devices, according to the patent, will be intermittent, and not continuous, since the secondary device needs to obtain only push notifications, emails, messages, news or other alerts. Once the device obtains this data, it can kill the connection, thereby further saving battery life. Much like Background Refresh, this would enable data updates on the secondary device without a lot of user intervention.

An excerpt from the application states:

The proximity profile defines a proximity notification alert that the supporting device sends to the device to advertise its shared access service to the network for devices within range. In one embodiment, upon receiving the proximity notification alert the device joins the supporting device’s shared access service and briefly connects to the network to receive push notifications or other messages, before disconnecting.

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